It is an attractive coupling having the great E minor Violin Concerto in tandem with the youthful D minor, but I fear that after his promising start in Mozart concertos last year (HMV EL270075-1, 4/85) the young German violinist, Frank Peter Zimmermann falls short in the big work. It is partly a question of the recording, particularly the balance. The recording venue is the excellent Jesus Christuskirche in Berlin, where in the sixties Karajan made many of his finest records, and the orchestral sound is very full and firm, but the soloist is placed so close that the violin sound, which I imagine can sound sweet, is given an unpleasantly sour edge. That is particularly noticeable at the start of the E minor, where the closeness also has one noticing gulping unevennesses in the production, where with Mutter (DG) or Chung (Decca) the melodic lines flow like cream. Zimmermann manages the transition into the second subject very beautifully, but it is a temporary respite, and the slow movement also has too much of a gulping squeezy manner. Only in the finale does his playing at last sound happy and relaxed, though even there he is not so light or sparkling as Mutter or Chung.
In the D minor work Zimmermann is more successful, but again the close placing of the violin undermines his efforts at gentleness, as in the beautiful second subject. In that movement I prefer Zehetmair on the rival Teldec version (AZ6 43061—not submitted for review), but Zimmermann's more flowing speed in the slow movement is preferable. In the finale Zehetmair and the Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra have the edge over their West German rivals in tackling the sparkling Hungarian rhythms of the piece. The coupling is currently unavailable in any other version, but this one has too many snags.'